National

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Michael Vick shared some laughs, and offered up an occasional smile. But for the most part, his Tuesday press conference announcing his new contract was handled the same way he’s handled everything since he landed in Philadelphia two years ago.
All business.
“The common goal is to bring that ring back to the city of Philadelphia. That’s why we play,” Vick said. “That’s what we’re all working for. As a competitor, I don’t feel my career will be complete without that.”

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Former NBA player Javaris Crittenton was in police custody after being arrested at a Southern California airport to board a flight to Atlanta, where his lawyer said he would go to surrender in a murder case.
Crittenton, who was suspended from the league for having guns in a locker room with teammate Gilbert Arenas, was arrested Monday evening at John Wayne Airport in Orange County after checking in for a redeye Delta Air Lines flight, FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller said. She said he was with a male companion who was not arrested.

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The Indianapolis Colts are bringing one veteran quarterback out of retirement.
No, not that one.
On Wednesday, the Colts agreed to terms with Kerry Collins to back up Peyton Manning, who would likely replace the four-time MVP in the lineup if Manning can’t start the season. Manning is still recovering from offseason neck surgery.
“It is a good opportunity to have Kerry become part of the team,” coach Jim Caldwell said in a statement released by the Colts. “He is a veteran quarterback who has started many games and he brings dimension and depth to the quarterback position, which will be helpful. He is familiar with our division and will make a great addition to our roster.”

Boise State leapt at the chance to leave behind the Western Athletic Conference and join the Mountain West.
It’s just a far different looking conference than the Broncos were anticipating.
“What makes it a lot tougher is the new environments, new situations, new teams, new stadiums, new fans. We were comfortable in the WAC because we had been there, we had been all those places,” Boise State offensive tackle Nate Potter said. “Mountain West has a bunch of good teams we’re going to look out for.”
Boise State’s move is the big news, but the arrival of the blue turf on the Mountain West footprint comes knowing that TCU is on its way out.

NEW YORK (AP) — Being voted preseason No. 1 is a tradition at Oklahoma, and this season is no different.
The Sooners will start out top-ranked in The Associated Press college football poll for the 10th time, more than any program in the country.
The defending Big 12 champions received 36 of 60 first-place votes and 1,464 points in the Top 25 released Saturday.
Auburn, last season’s national champion, will start the season No. 23, one spot behind where it began in 2010.
If the rankings are any indication, the national title race could be a scramble.
No. 2 Alabama, one of a record eight Southeastern Conference teams in the preseason poll, wasn’t far behind OU, receiving 17 first-place votes and 1,439 points.

CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) — The Miami Hurricanes’ entire football team took the practice field Wednesday amid mounting allegations by a former booster and convicted Ponzi schemer who claimed he treated players with sex parties, nightclub outings, cars and other gifts.
Nevin Shapiro told Yahoo! Sports he provided extra benefits to 72 football players and other athletes at Miami from 2002 to 2010. His claims involve several current players, but coach Al Golden said it was too soon to take disciplinary action.
The Hurricanes open their season Sept. 5 against Maryland.

NEW YORK (AP) — Six days after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Major League Baseball returned to the field with a new ritual. During the seventh-inning stretch, a moment typically reserved for “Take Me Out to the Ball Game,” another song played at parks around the country: “God Bless America.”
Everybody sang along, that night and for weeks afterward.
In a riveting World Series that year between the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Yankees, one of the most enduring memories came during Game 3 in New York, when 56,000 people at Yankee Stadium joined in a melancholy rendition of the tune as a tattered flag recovered at the World Trade Center site fluttered on a pole above the center field scoreboard.

Following the long spring and summer lockout, the National Football League will be back in action tonight.
The first preseason games of 2011 will start this evening, including the Denver Broncos and the Dallas Cowboys, who will meet tonight at Cowboys Stadium. Game time is 6:30 p.m. MDT.
Other games set for tonight include Jacksonville at New England (5:30 p.m.), Baltimore at Philadelphia (5:30 p.m.), Seattle at San Diego (6 p.m.) and Arizona at Oakland (8 p.m.). Seattle at San Diego will be televised on ESPN while Denver at Dallas will be broadcast on KASY channel 50.
The 2011 season opener is scheduled for Sept. 8. It pits the last two Super Bowl champs, the New Orleans Saints and the Green Bay Packers.

MADRID (AP) — He has a contract with one of soccer’s biggest clubs and the same long, floppy hair and nickname Leo of his idol, Lionel Messi.
It may take awhile, however, before Leonel Angel Coira can match the wondrous Messi: He is 7 years old.
Real Madrid said Monday it signed the Argentine prodigy to its youth academy after seeing him in tryouts. He will start training with Madrid’s youth team in September.
Coira hopes to follow the path set by Messi, a countryman who joined Barcelona from the Argentine club Newell’s Old Boys as a teenager and has gone on to win the World Player of the Year award two times.